Chinese Immigrants in Cuba: Documents from the James and Ana Melikian Collection

The Chinese Immigrants in Cuba collection includes hundreds of original documents, manuscripts and photos covering the migration of 125,000 Chinese who signed up to be cheap labor in Cuba from 1847 until the later 1890s. The archive continues until the 1970s and records the Chinese community in Cuba and is rich with photos. This massive collection, from the archive of James and Ana Melikian Collection, is probably the largest one in private hands concerning Chinese in Cuba. At present the collection contains over 1341 records and about 8,000-9,000 pages.

Records for the ship Francis P. Sage, which brought Chinese settlers from China to Cuba under contract with the Empresa de Colonos Asiaticos. On this trip, the Francis P Sage brought Leo Lihon from China to work in the countryside. They were transported to Cuba aboard the ship Francis under contract with Hipoltio Teller. These workers were hired to work as a domestic servant